Michigan State football: Jonathan Smith hits Ohio, flips WR Austin Clay from Bowling Green
After a few years of an Ohio recruiting drought, Jonathan Smith has Michigan State back in the Buckeye State.
On Monday, the Spartans flipped Austin Clay, a three-star wide receiver/defensive back from Cleveland, away from Bowling Green, just two days before college football’s three-day, early-signing period opens.
Clay originally committed to Bowling Green in late June. He picked up an offer from Smith's staff last week and visited MSU over the weekend.
The 6-foot-1, 165-pound Clay is rated the No. 74 player in Ohio and is 207th nationally as a receiver, according to 247Sports.com's composite rankings.
Smith, who was hired Nov. 25 and officially approved by MSU’s Board of Trustees on Friday, has been making up ground over the past week-plus to rebuild the Spartans’ recruiting class. Clay is the sixth player to pledge to MSU since last Tuesday, bringing the Spartans’ total commitments up to 13. Four of those recruits originally were committed to Smith at Oregon State.
Those players are expected to sign during the early period that runs from Wednesday to Friday, along with six holdover recruits from Mel Tucker’s staff. That group includes four-star River Rouge wide receiver Nick Marsh and one player – Keshawn Williams from Tennessee – who committed to MSU after Tucker’s firing.
Clay played for Berea-Midpark High School near Cleveland, which also produced former MSU linebacker Joe Bachie. Clay earned a Division I All-State first-team honors at wideout last week by the Ohio Prep Sports Writers Association. He had 734 yards and nine touchdowns on 52 receptions through the regular season, according to Cleveland.com, and averaged 34.5 yards with three more TDs on kickoff returns and posted 35.7 yards with two more scores on punt returns.
MORE COMMITMENTS: Three-star DB Andrew Brinson IV, three-star QB Alessio Milivojevic commit to Michigan State
In the 2024 class, Clay joins twin Cincinnati Hils Christian Academy three-star offensive linemen Mercer and Charlton Luniewski, who committed to Tucker and MSU in June.
Tucker – a Cleveland native – and his staff eschewed Ohio, which historically has been fertile territory for the Spartans, including seven in Mark Dantonio’s final recruiting class in 2020 that Tucker inherited. MSU signed just two prospects from Tucker’s home state in his two full recruiting classes – none last year, and two in 2021 (defensive backs A.J. Kirk and Michael Gravely) who left the program. Both played this fall at junior colleges: Gravely for College of DuPage near Chicago, and Kirk at Jones College in Mississippi.
Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him @chrissolari.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan State football: Jonathan Smith hits Ohio, adds WR Austin Clay
